Star Wars: Episode VII: The Force Awakens

[Edd Grayson]

I just hope they have learned from the mistakes of the prequel trilogy and will bring us something better, more akin to the classics.

[Catwoman]

Yes. More story less focus on visual effects.

Love the name. Very original trilogy-y lol.

[johnnygobbs]

I just hope they have learned from the mistakes of the prequel trilogy and will bring us something better, more akin to the classics.

I think the prequel trilogy progressively improved from the awful TPM to the rather thrilling ROTS, but one thing all three prequel movies lacked was a sense of joy.  Even the 'dark' The Empire Strike Back had plenty of moments of levity, mainly between Leia and Solo ("scruffy-looking Nerf-herder" indeed), and Lando's constant refrain that "this deal is getting worse all the time". 

[Catwoman]

I just hope they have learned from the mistakes of the prequel trilogy and will bring us something better, more akin to the classics.

I think the prequel trilogy progressively improved from the awful TPM to the rather thrilling ROTS, but one thing all three prequel movies lacked was a sense of joy.  Even the 'dark' The Empire Strike Back had plenty of moments of levity, mainly between Leia and Solo ("scruffy-looking Nerf-herder" indeed), and Lando's constant refrain that "this deal is getting worse all the time". 

Yes! I nearly said this myself but I never saw Revenge of the Sith so I wasn't sure if I'd be speaking out of turn lol. But the first two seemed just so miserable. I guess it is because these were supposed to be miserable times but yea. lol

[Edd Grayson]

I liked ROTS a lot more than the first two, but it can't really compare to the original trilogy.

[johnnygobbs]

I liked ROTS a lot more than the first two, but it can't really compare to the original trilogy.

This is my ranking:

Episode V>IV>VI>III>II>I

Basically, if you watch the films in sequential order they more or less improve with each film (I don't think there's a lot between Episodes IV, V and VI).

Now, here's a question: if you had a kid which order would you introduce them to the series?  I don't think it would be a good idea to start them off with Episode I because it would immediately put them off all the others. 

This is my suggested order:

Episode IV, V (basically ending on the Vader reveal), than a flashback to I, II, III (which explains Anakin/Vader's backstory and how he got to become and man/machine he ended up as), and then we end triumphantly with the upbeat Episode VI. 

How the new trilogy will fit into all this I don't know. 

[Edd Grayson]

I like your ranking and viewing order! I'd just flashback to III and skip I and II though. 

The new trilogy will be a "sequel trilogy", won't it? So it would come after episode VI, I guess.

[Cobblepot4Mayor]

Well Attack of the Clones is my personal least favorite. But not funnily enough for the reasons a typical fan may first think, the rather "yawn infested" Anakin and Queen Amidala romance which I'm sure you'll all first assume? Despite the dialogue between them being at times awkward I found it all the more interesting than what fans give it credit for because we're basically watching the origins of Luke Skywalker and Princess Leia here. And this I found fascinating to see. More so in fact than an army of 200 cgi Jedi! Shame it couldn't have been better written.

I think Revenge of the Sith should have focused more on Anakin's anxieties about becoming a father and what that meant to him among everything else. It all got sort of lost there in that General Grievous/Sidious plot. Luke and Leia's birth in the final act gets sort of tacked on out of nowhere because basically everybody else was more interested in seeing Vader dumped in lava. Although it's all still very good it didn't flow naturally enough for me or wasn't given the special focus I hoped to see. For example I used to imagine the back-story Obi Wan describes to Luke about how he was hidden by Vader when he was born in Return of the Jedi. It all seemed quite perverse and scary sounding to me and may have made for a tense sequence if done correctly. Instead Obi Wan's hides the kids relatively easy. That final act of Revenge of the Sith is simply rushed far too quickly to wrap everything up. They could have done with dumping that massively overlong opening sequence on Grievous's ship and getting to the juicier parts they ran out of time for.

In Clones I hated the overuse of digital effects. Digital Yoda is particularly disgraceful. At least Phantom Menace was a purer film made in a slightly purer time with actual sets, locations and old fashioned space ship models still being used. 

At least in the prequel films you get the babe that is Natalie Portman lol I just ignored Jar Jar and watched her (strange that nobody else seemed to do so?). Unfortunately her character gets really bland in the last two. In Phantom Menace she was kinda cool and more like Princess Leia, racing into battle with her armed guards and all that. Turning her into a dull political obsessed senator really destroyed her coolness for me. Having her being looked after like a damsel in distress by Anakin (a guy five years her junior no less) was even worse in Sith.

[johnnygobbs]

I like your ranking and viewing order! I'd just flashback to III and skip I and II though. 

The new trilogy will be a "sequel trilogy", won't it? So it would come after episode VI, I guess.

Don't you need to watch I and II to fully understand the story leading up to III etc?  Actually, I don't think I is all that essential.  One can easily skip to Anakin as a teenager and understand all that has gone befor without sitting through the interminable podrace, Jar Jar and that annoying kid they got to play pre-adolescent 'Annie'. 

I think you're right about the new trilogy, but I don't know if there will be any twists that would be conducive to a non-linear viewing order.

[Edd Grayson]

Darth Vader is an interesting character and an iconic villain. But "Anakin Skywalker" ? Not so much, I think. All we know is that he was a Jedi and Luke's father who turned to the dark side. He works best in the original trilogy because we only see the calm and yet menacing lord Vader and not child "Annie" or the stereotypical teenager Anakin, or the Darth Vader who shouts "NOOOOO!" in the most corny way possible.